China's share of global premiums will continue to rise rapidly to an estimated 18% in 2030, half the share of the US, Swiss Re Institute predicts in its latest sigma report. The forecast 18% is almost double China's 10% share of the global market last year.
Several P&C insurers are becoming wary of underwriting credit insurance, as losses in this class of business mount. This represents a U-turn on the eagerness which insurers had shown in previous years when credit insurance was considered a lucrative branch.
COVID-19 has been found to accelerate the trend of consumers in China purchasing insurance online, particularly for the health sector. This creates a growing opportunity for insurers and the country's online health insurance market is expected to expand at an average of 43% per annum until 2025 according to Swiss Re Institute in its latest sigma report.
Last week, AXA XL announced its switch to becoming China's first foreign-owned reinsurance subsidiary. The subsidiary, XL Insurance China, is to be named AXA XL Re China. According to a statement from AXA, this re-focus of the license was unprecedented for both AXA and for the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC).
HSBC Life China, the HSBC Group's life insurance joint venture in mainland China, has started offering a new digitally-enabled financial planning and insurance service in July 2020, delivered by newly recruited personal wealth planners who will provide a needs-based wealth planning experience and insurance service outside the bank's branch network to meet a holistic range of wealth, health and protection goals.
The COVID-19 pandemic has escalated people's risk awareness in China greatly and aroused people's attention to insurance products such as critical illness insurance and medical insurance - leading to several online insurers benefitting from this trend.
Chinese regulators adopted shock and awe tactics last Saturday to target misbehaving shareholders of insurers and banks by naming and shaming 38 corporate investors for having "gravely" violated rules and laws in their first such exercise, reported Reuters.
Even though the Chinese insurance industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, agents are optimistic about the future, according to the findings of a recent survey by the global consulting firm McKinsey.
The CBIRC has issued a notice to standardise and strengthen the management of Internet insurance sales behaviour and protect the interests of consumers who buy their insurance policies online.
The CBIRC has issued regulations to allow insurance funds to deal in treasury bond futures, restricting transactions to hedging and barring speculation.